Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 18, 1 May 1902, Page 27

Catholic World

AUSTRlA.— Peter's Pence. On the occasion of the Papal Jubilee the Emperor Francis Joseph sent an autograph letter to his Holiness. The monaich has also empowered the Austrian-Hungarian ambassador to the Vatican to present to the Pope th»> sum of ion ono francs as Peter's Pence. A Work of Charity The Archbishop of OlinuU, Pr Theodore Kohn, has declared that in honor of the Pope's jubilee he will devote 300,000 crowns (about £12,000)— all his property— to a ■work of charity. ltlight thousand pounds are to be invested m an orphanage in the Moravian village of Brezuitz, where his mother lived and died. The rest is for the endowment. If the Archbishop lives lie hopes to save £2,400 more out of his income, to be added to the fund', if he dies before he can save so muchj he wishes his personal property in books, furniture, and jewellery to be sold for that purpose ENGLAND.— A Great Architect. His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan, attended by Mgr. Moyes ami Father Johnson, pontificated at the Requiem at the funeral of John Francis Bentley, architect, of Uestniinster Cathedral The Caidmal paid an eloqaient tribute to the pit t\ and talents of the designer ot tli< i i;ieat structure now approaching completion. Church Progress. Catholic buildings winch will be erected this year in Sundei land, England,, will cost about iriii 000 The Little Sisters of the I'ooi lead in expenditure, closely followed by tho new schools of St. Mary s and the magnificent home of the Young Men's Institute. The Westminster CathedraJ. The late Mr. Bentley, ai tinted of Westminster Cathedral, has leii behind him plans to enable the completion of the great building to be carried out accoidmg to the original designs. Lord Denbigh's Sister. Lord Denbigh s sister. Lady 1 diih MaryTi ances, who has hilheito icsided in the Convent of the Si^teis of Charity at lUinferinline lias become Lady Superior of St Mai.v s Convent at Dovei. A Bit of History. The fact that Len Mil coij.pl.'lcrt his 912 nd year a few weeks ago, iemhiids a London papoi that he is the only Pope who has walked down Piccadilly and occupied a scat m the Distinguished Stiangus' Calluv m the British House of Ciininuui^ where he had had the ]>liw-,ii< oi hearing 4 a speech by Daniel n found Tho Pope has always In i n loud of recalling tins expeiieme whin ieceiving Irish pilgrims ,md vi-iiois The Pope, then Archbishop I'ecci,

spent the whole of February 1846 in London, for the first few days as the guest of the Brazilian Amblssa-[y-aad afterwards in apartments "IT Piccadilly. lie admired Recent s reet and spent several afteriSSn* to In? iV a , rk - lio was introduced to Lord Palmerston by the Austrian ambassador, and attended n reception at the Foreign Oilico. Queen Victoria, whom ho had previously met when Papal Nuncio at Brussels invited hnn to a State reception at Court, and he was present at ' a great ceremonial, in which the Ciueen took part.' Pope Leo at that time had a serviceable acquaintance with the Knghsh language, and conversed in it with Charles Lever, the Irish novelist, JLady Seymour, the Weld family, and Dr. W/hately, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, with whom he established cordial relations. While in London the Tope oiliciated in two churches— the old Sardinian Chapel, still standing on the western side of Lincoln's Inn 1- lelds, and St. Alary's, Moorfields the old London Catholic Cathedral recently demolished. FRANCE— Official Bigotry. The French Government socin^ b^nt on the extreme of juirblind bigotry. H has just decided that rural postollices must remain open on Sunday till noon—this with the expressed object of preventing- tho clerks from hearing Mass. ITALY. — Offering- from Peasants. The peasant women of Italy will make an ode ring to the Pope in honor of his jubilee. For this object a penny subset lplion has been instituted. Social Unrest. Whilo the glad iiibilee opens m the Vatican (wnti-s tho Home correspondent of the Sydney 'Freeman's Journal') the kingdom of Italy is in a welter. 1 ha-vc dwelt more than once in these columns upon the strange labor agitation which began with the new year 1902, and which still goes on Side by si.de with this, during the last li\e or six months, there has been carried on a strenuous movement of Catholic agitation against the divorce Bill. Both movements, h> my opinion, ha\o overthrown the Cabinet. This occurred on the day after King Victoi Emmanuel 111 had with great pomp, inaugurated a session of Parliament and delivered a sententious speech from the Throne A morning paper heads its account of the present phase of tho labor agitation with the title ' On tho way to Revolution ' Well, mayhap, but the way to tho Rovolution of 1898 was stopped every win. 1 ) o by the means being used now. '1 he i.ulway system has been coaveited into a depa.ilinent of tho national army There are thousands ot police and carbineers and reg.ulai troops for tho thousands of hungiy and discontented 1 ihink the storm may blow over, but I still think, and 1 have more than once said here, that the labor agitation cannot but m the end revol'u-

tiomse this country. Chances will decide whether this will be done suddenly (and violently, or slowly but still swiftly, as it were. ROME.- A Special Medal. A special medal is coined every 3- ear at the Vatican mint, coumicnioratmg some important act of the re^inny Pontill 'lhis, year's medal winch Jiaa j.ust been issued, bears the Holy Father's eitigy, with the words i^o Xlll. Pont. Max. An. XXIV, 1 and on the reverse an accurate repiod.uctioii of Llie magniJicent monument erected by the Sovereign Pontm to the memory of his great predecessor Innocent 111. in the .Lateran Basilica. Congratulations. .Besides having despatched special embassies to Home for the Papal jubilee a number of sovereigns sent telegrams of congratulation to the Holy Father. The Kmperors of Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia ; the Queen Kegent of! Spain, the Iving of Portugal, the Queen of the Belgians, the Prince of Montenegro, the Count and Countess of Flandera, the Comte d'Eu, and the Presidents of the Republics of Switzerland, Brazil, Chili, and Venezuela were amongst those from whom such telegrams were received. Churches and Religious. It has been erroneously stated that there are 365 churches in Rome, one for every day in the year. The exact number, according to the recent census, is 352 including the four great basilicas outside the walls. Besides these there are about 918 chapels connected with monasteries, con\ents, schools, and private palaces, and a large number of shrines erected Iby individuals in different parts of the city to fuliil vows or to show gratitude for deliverance from peril or sickness. There are 68 monastic establishments, 42 for monks and 26 for nuns. The number oi inhabitants varies from time to time with the season, and averages about 4000. Bequests to the Pope. It is stated that during the year 1 ( JO1 the Pope figured as legatee in over 700 wills throughout the Catholic world, the aggregate amount thus left to him being £120,000. The largest single legacy left to his holiness was £6000, bequeathed to him by a wealthy Italian manufacturer, and the second largest £4000. The Jubilee. The Holy Father, apparently not m the least fatigued by the imposing ceremony which took place on March 3 (writes the Rome correspondent of the 'Catholic Times ') opened on the following Wednesday the long series of diplomatic receptions which undoubtedly constitute tho most important feature of the Jubilee celebrations, proving as they do that the whole civilised world honors and reveres the Catholic

Church in the person of its visible head. The representatives of France, the ' fille ainee de l'Eglise,' had the honor of being received first, the audience being of a most cordial character. Baron Nisard, the En-voy-Extraor,dinary, presented tjhe Holy Father with two magnificent Gobelins, the gift of President Lonbet, the subjects depicted being the ' Vocation of the Blessed Joan of Arc inarching towards the Loire.' The Holy Father, in accepting the gift and the congratulatory address w>hich accompanied it, pronojtmced; an eloquent speech, reaffirming the ties of indelible loyalty which bind France to the Holy See. The German and Bavarian Envvoys next had the honor of being received by the Sovereign Pontiff, and on Saturday the special missions sent by '" Great Britain, Russia, Saxony, Belgium, an)d Montenegro were admitted into the Papal presence. Numerous pilgrimages from every part of Italy and from aibroa'd continue to arrive in Rome, and the Pope granted numerous audiences every day. The congratulatory telegrams addressed to the Pope have been so numerous that the number of employees at the Telegraph Office in Rome has hatf. to be considerably increased. The British Mission. Shortly before noon on Saturday, March 8 (writes a Rome correspondent), the Holy Father received in formal audience the Earl of Denbigh and the other members of the British Special Mission. The delegates passed through the Court of San Damaso, where the Papal Guard was in attendance, an!d went up to the Clementine Chamber, escorted by the Swiss Guards. The members of the Mission were then conducted to the Throne room, where the Pope was seated on the Throne, surrounded by his court. The Earl of Denbigh, in presenting the letter of King Edward, delivered a short address, expressing his best wishes on the occasion of the Jubilee. The Pope, in reply, said that he was much touched by the despatch of the Mission, and expressed his 1 thanks to King Edward for having sent it. He also referred to the death of the lamented Queen Victoria. After the speeches, which were delivered in French, the Earl of Denbigh presented the other members of the Mission. The Holy Father then invited the Special Envoy to follow liim into his private apartments, and there conversed with him for a little while. At the close of the audience, which was of a very cordial character, the delegates paid a visit to Cardinal Rampolla, the Pontifical Secretary of State The Pope, who was in excellent noalth, also leceived the Countess of Denbigh in private audience., SPAIN. At an ordination held in the private oratory attached to the archiepiscopal palace, Vallaidolid, on the 22n>d February, the following students were raised to the subdiacoS by his Grace the Archbishop of Valladolid, Don Jose Maria Cos .- Scots College— Rev. Francis O Brien, of the archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh; Rev James Clark, Rev. Denis Scannell, Rev. Patrick Owsh, Rev,. Patrick J, Diamond, and liam Watts and Rev. Jo*** Bannon, of the diocese of Salford ; Rev, Walter Weston, of the diocese of Birmingham ;■ Rev. Thomas Walker, of the diocese of Northampton ; Rev. Cecil Paget, of the diocese of Shrewsbury ;■ and Rev. Michael Haggerty, of the diocese of Newport. «__■■——,